QUIZ: Test your knowledge of spillover viruses, starting with ... what are they?

Illustration of a person and a virus at a bar. The person says, "I've kept up with the pandemic, so I'm pretty much a virus expert now!" The virus responds, "Wanna bet?"
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Malaka Gharib/NPR
Illustration of a person and a virus at a bar. The person says, "I've kept up with the pandemic, so I'm pretty much a virus expert now!" The virus responds, "Wanna bet?"
Malaka Gharib/NPR

After three years of living with an unprecedented pandemic, how much of your knowledge has changed about how these catastrophes start?

Like, what exactly is a "spillover"? Where do viruses like SARS-CoV-2 come from? And how often do they ... spill over? Take our quiz and test your knowledge.

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Hidden viruses: how pandemics really begin

NPR is running a series on spillover viruses — that's when animal pathogens jump into people. Researchers used to think spillovers were rare events. Now it is clear they happen all the time. That has changed how scientists look for new deadly viruses. To learn more, we traveled to Guatemala and Bangladesh, to Borneo and South Africa.

We have a quiz for you to test your spillover knowledge. But we'd also like you to quiz us. Send your questions about spillovers to goatsandsoda@npr.org with "spillovers" in the subject line. We'll answer questions in a follow-up post when the series concludes in mid-February.

Read the full story here

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